A top United Nations (UN) official has described as genocide, the atrocities committed against the Rohingyas, which resulted in the fleeing of hundreds of thousands of refugees to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
UN Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, said if the international community took appropriate measures when early signs became visible, the incident could have been prevented.
He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar, “1971 Genocide in Bangladesh,” organized by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).
The event was held at the BIISS auditorium on Sunday.
“On various occasions we sounded the alarm to call on the international community to take action against Myanmar before the atrocities began,” Adama Dieng said.
He lamented the international community's inaction when it came to preventing the genocide against the Rohingya people.
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“When the Rohingya case is brought to the International Criminal Court, the atrocities against the persecuted minority of Myanmar will certainly be determined as genocide,” he said.
Regarding the atrocities committed during Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971, the UN special adviser made it clear that his presence in Bangladesh just before March 25 does not indicate the global body’s recognition of the tragic happenings in 1971 as genocide.
Dieng said he is a sympathizer of 1971 freedom fighters and survivors, but validation as genocide, this issue needs to be brought before a court of justice.
“No country is immune to genocide,” he said.
Referring to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s, Dieng said nobody would believe that there would be genocide in the heart of Europe but it did happen in Srebrenica.
He said: “The world has recently witnessed the rise of extremism and xenophobia in some parts of the globe. This issue needs to be addressed.”
Genocide is planned, mobilizes resources
Dieng said that genocide does not happen suddenly; rather, it occurs after planning, mobilizing resources, and support.
“The perpetrators need time to develop their capacity. In order to do this, they need to mobilize their resources to carry out their plans. This process takes years, sometimes even decades,” he said.
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“It is possible to identify the early signs by observing the processes involved in carrying out genocide,” he added.
Barrister M Amir-ul Islam said that following the War of Independence in 1971, there was a consensus that 195 Pakistani army officials had committed war crimes.
“However, they were not tried. There was pressure from the international community, including the United Nations, to repatriate them,” he said.
Member of Advisory Board of Liberation War Museum, Mofidul Haque, said there had been much denial after the war, that genocide took place in 1971.
He spoke about an agreement that said 195 Pakistani officers could be tried, but that did not happen due to the international community’s change of mind.
Presided over by Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the seminar was addressed, among others, by BIISS Chairman, Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad, and Director General, Major General AKM Abdur Rahman.
